Archives for September 2014

This past Tuesday the Tupper Link was lined with posters and busy with faculty, residents and students; September 23rd marked this year’s Global Health Day. The event, hosted by the Global Health Office, provided an opportunity for students, residents, faculty and the community to share their experiences in global health research and education, and engage with others who share their passion. Thank you to all those who attended and made this year’s event a success!

Welcome to Global Health Day 2014

You could see and hear the enthusiasm in the room, with the excited chatter, eager gesturing, and cheerful smiles. Many of Dalhousie’s global health community and partners attended. Students from Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry and Health Administration made their way around and in between the posters. Also in attendance was Dean of Medicine Dr. Tom Marrie and a special guest from Tanzania, Thecla Kohi.

The presented posters demonstrated the broad range of global health initiatives undertaken at Dalhousie. A group of Dalhousie students representing the Dalhousie Student-led Clinic Steering Committee presented their poster on Building a student-led, interprofessional community health initiative in Halifax, in which they highlighted their work on developing a student run clinic in our community. Research in Medicine students shared their work as well. For example, Emma Sumner’s poster was based on her work in the Evaluation of outcomes of a specialized seating program for children in a low resources setting.

Emma Sumner, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB)

When it comes to the international facet of global health, international surgery and international anesthesia also presented. And of course, Dalhousie’s Global Health Office offered posters detailing a variety of student programs, including the Local Global Health Elective and Summer Programs with partners in The Ghambia and Tanzania, to name name a few. In addition, there was a poster for the Global Health Advocates Certificate, with a reminder that the application deadline is October 3rd. 2014!

Allan Kember, Dalhousie Medical student

A steady stream of visitors wove in and out of posters, lingered to network, and participated in the Global Health Day draw. This year’s winners were Chad Klassen and Megha Vatsya, each taking home a global health book (When People Come First: Critical Studies in Global Health). Participants and visitors were so engrossed in coversation, individuals stayed until the last poster board was taken down at the end of the session.

Dalhousie departments, schools and faculties are involved with global health projects around the world. The reach of these initiatives and the network of partnerships formed along the way reflects the deep rooted passion for global health found at Dalhousie. As the Global Health Office, we work at every level to enhance and promote these efforts. One such collaboration is our work with the Department of Psychiatry and their Global Psychiatry group who foster partnerships for healthier minds across the globe. Two of these partnerships were recently featured in September’s issue of Headlines, the Department of Psychiatry’s newsletter. The first, is with Trinidad, and the second, while in Canada, is an example of a local global health initiative.

Training in Trinidad

Recently, Global Psychiatry began training in Prevention and Management of Aggression and Violence in Trinidad. Similar training was being provided in Tobago when the Ministry of Health Mental Health Planning Unit in Trinidad approached Global Psychiatry with the request. The project has grown since its inception and now includes training for staff in ministries outside the direct realm of mental health, including, Education, People and Social Development, Justice, Emergency Response, and Maintenance and Training Services. This growth was largely spurred from the drive of Ms. Trudy Rouse who saw a need for cross-government agency training. The next phase of the project will involve delivering a train-the trainer model to 10 of the participants, scheduled for September and November.

Update from NWT

Within Canadian borders, we find Global Psychiatry’s Dr. Arlene MacDougall, who was the 2013 recipient of our Dr. Jock Murray Global Health Award for Resident Leadership, and Dr. Bianca Horner who is well established in global health. With the support of a variety of stakeholders, they facilitated the development of an integrated collaborative step care model for mental health in primary care in the Northwest Territories. This collaboration included senior leaders, service providers, researchers and the Government. They are now working with these stakeholders to help oversee the establishment and evaluation of a pilot site in Yellowknife. The longer-term vision is to eventually adapt and expand the model to smaller communities across the territories.

The network of reciprocal relationships, with the intent of benefitting our partners, truly enriches the learning experience of students and faculty members at Dalhousie. With the new academic year ahead, take the opportunity to get involved in global health. The Global Health Office is a great place to start. Check out our website at http://gho.medicine.dal.ca

By Spencer Holowachuk, Dalhousie Medical studentSpencer is medical student from Dalhousie University who has participated in many global health opportunities on campus and is a graduate of the Advocates in Global Health Certificate. He has worked as a Local Exchange Officer for the Canadian Federation of Medical Students for the last two years. This summer Spencer was one of several Dalhousie medical students to participate in IFMSA international electives.

I was fortunate enough to go on an international exchange organized by the International Federation of Medical Students (IFMSA) to Ghana for four weeks this past June. I completed an internal medicine elective at a teaching hospital in Kumasi, a city of two million people. I choose to go to a lower-middle income country because I wanted to experience healthcare delivery in a resource-limited setting. Medical care is restricted to some extent everywhere, but in Ghana, compared to Canada, there are additional challenges.

Despite having a new emergency department, the hospital in Kumasi is extremely overcrowded. Patient beds are lined up next to each other regardless of the patients’ medical complaints; this overcrowding increases the risk of hospital-acquired infections. While I was there I was mindful of my role as a learner and I received excellent teaching, but in the area of infection control, I inadvertently passed on my own knowledge. One of the few pieces of information I imparted was unknowingly through using my personal alcohol sanitizer between patients. The consultants (attending physicians) admired this practice and quickly implemented better hand hygiene practices for their medical teams as a result.

Another challenge in Ghana is patient fees, a well-documented barrier in many healthcare systems. In Ghana, fees are charged to most patients for their stay in hospital; however, there is national healthcare insurance, albeit limited, for some select populations. Without universal healthcare coverage treatment options are limited by the patient’s ability to pay; consequently, the financial circumstance of each patient factors into his or her medical care. The resource limitations and financial constraints are major determinants of how medical care is provided. Medical care wasn’t presented as a commodity as in the United States, but more as a limited resource that can only meet the very basic medical needs of patients.

Two of the many lessons I learned as a result of my experiences in Ghana are

to foster reciprocity between healthcare professionals

to be resourceful within systemic constraints, but advocate for a better standard of care

Students interested in Global Health electives through the IFMSA and CFMS can get more information here (http://www.cfms.org/). Application deadlines are usually in late September or early October – deadline to be announced soon!

The global health office also offers international electives to students in Med 1 & 2, Nursing and Pharmacy. Applications are due Nov 24, please visit our global health education page for more information.